Skein



Patented May 17, 1938 PATENT oFFicE SKEIN i Joseph I. Taylor,Elisabethton, Tenn., assignor to North American Rayon Corporation, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation o! Delaware application Api-i1 1s, 1931,serai No. 137,193

e claims. (o1. zs-zi) In producing filaments and yarns from cellulosicsolutions, it is customary to extrude the solutions through spinneretsand preliminarlly harden the illaments or yarns in a bath after which`they are collected on spools, reels or in spin pots. In the latter twoprocesses the yarn bodies form hanks or skeins and in this form the yarnis subjected to a series of after treatments such as desulphurlzation,deacidificatlon, bleaching, washing, drying and the like.

One of the important problems of the industry is to devise means formaintaining the hanks or skeins in condition during these several stepsof manufacture to insure that the filaments or threads will not becometangled and to allow the yarn bodies to be manipulated without becominglinked or hooked with one another. It is also necessary to retain thehank or skein so that its individual strands are easily separated duringthev final drying and inspection, although itis preferable to allow theconvolutions of the hanks or skeins to be slightly compressed during theseveral wet frequent steps. Heretofore, the hanks or skeins have beenlaced ;5 at several points around their circumference by dividing thehank into a plurality of approximately the same sized bundles andpassing a tie thread of rayon over and under the several bundles, theends of the lacing being tied at the side of the hank. This method isyonly fairly satisfactory for the reason that it is necessary to providefor the opening up of the hank during its drying and final inspection.Itis, therefore, necessary to make'the lacings long and loose enough sothat they will permit separation and opening up of the skein. vConsequently these very loose lacings become bothersome and are in theway when the skeins are compressed in the wet treatment steps. Toobviate these disadvantages of the usual L0 lacing, it is proposed to doaway with the rayon s lacings and in place thereof use lacingscomprising elastic cords or strands which may be made of rubber, latexor other elongatable filaments.

To illustrate the invention attention is directed l5 to thedrawingwherein' s Fig. 1 illustrates a completely laced skein; l

li'lg.4 2 shows the skein compressed or constricted by the lacing;

Fig. 3 discloses the skein on the inspection arm i0 in spread or openedcondition. l.

I'n the drawing in which like numerals of reference indicate like partsI refersmto a conventional skein or hank of yarn which 'is adapted to beused in the various wet treatments such as may be desired. These hanksor skeins are usually formed by being collected on a reel with an openor diamond wind imparted thereto by the traverse guide. The skeins arethen laced at these open places and divide the skein into a plurality ofbundles or bunches 2 of approximately the same size. The lacing in theinvention of applicant is done with a resilient strand 3 whichpassesalternately over and under the bundles 10 with its free ends tiedinto a simple overhand surgeons or running knot l.

The lacing or tie cords 3 may be elastic threads. rubber, latex or otherstretchable -strands or tilaments', the major requisite being that theyare 15 capable of being stretched and thereafter returned to theiroriginal length.

In placing the lacings through the skein, the operator uses as short alength of resilient cord as possible so that after the knot is tied atits ends, the skein or hank will be slightly com` pressed. In thiscondition the several steps of after treatment take place. Duringinspection, however, when the skeins. are placed on a conventionalinspection arm 5, the hanks are readily opened up for examination fordefects as shown in Fig. 3.

While I have described my improvements in great detail and with respectto preferred forms thereof, I do not desire to be limited to such de- 3gtails or forms since many modifications and changes may be made and theinvention embodied in widely dierent forms without departing from thespirit and scope thereof in its broader aspects. Hence I desire 'to.cover al1 modifications and 35 forms coming within the language orscope of any one or more of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: v

l. As a new article ofmanufacture, a skein of 40 artincial silk yarndivided into bundles and elastic strands tied in a plurality of placesthroughout its' circumference by passing said strands over and under theseparate bundles of the yarn, the ends of each strand being knotted.

2. A skein of artiilcial silk consisting of a bundle of filaments, thesaid filaments being longitudinally divided into a plurality of separatebunches, and an elastic strand alternately passing over and under saidseparate bunches of filaments, the ends of said strand being knotted atthe outside of said bundle.

' JOSEPH I. TAYIQR.

